Development and Communications Director

Job Description

Job Description

Salary : The annual salary range will likely fall between $125,000 for a candidate with 10 years of experience, and $135,000 for a candidate with 20 years of experience.

Who We Are

Columbia Legal Services (CLS) is a nonprofit civil legal aid organization that advances social, economic, and racial equity for people living in poverty.

We support communities and movements by bringing deep legal expertise that is grounded in and strongly guided by an understanding of race equity.

We seek systemic solutions by bringing class action lawsuits, using cutting edge legal theories, engaging in policy advocacy, and supporting communities in building their own power.

We have a special responsibility to serve people whose access to free legal services is restricted, due to institutionalized or immigration status.

At CLS we seek a team that reflects our organizational values of community, race equity, and justice. This includes hiring staff with connections to the communities we serve whenever possible, and a commitment to strive for justice and equity in our hiring practices and in our staff culture.

Position Summary

Columbia Legal Services seeks a collaborative and experienced full-time Development & Communications Director to use their talents as a member of our statewide team, working toward a Washington State in which every person enjoys full human rights and economic opportunities.

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Development & Communications Director serves as a core member of the organization’s executive leadership team, and is supervisor to the development and communications (DECO) team of 3-4 staff and interns.

The DECO team is committed to community-centric fundraising and people-first communications, as it seeks to grow the organization’s budget over the next five years and beyond.

CLS raises funding from individuals, foundations, and corporations and is currently in its first year of a capital campaign.

CLS works in strong partnership with other legal aid and community organizations around the state, as well as the Legal Foundation of Washington.

This position is responsible for overseeing the joint development and communications department, including directing strategic fundraising and communications, implementing internal and external communications strategies to further our advocacy and mission, coordinating CLS grant-seeking activities, and working with others on the Organizational Management Team (OMT) on organizational policies.

This position may be based in any CLS office; CLS office locations include Seattle, Olympia, Kennewick, Yakima, and Wenatchee.

All CLS staff have the ability to complete some work remotely; however, this position will require some physical presence at the office, as well as an ability to attend required meetings at the office and in the community.

CLS requires that all employees adhere to our COVID-19 vaccine mandate through proof of vaccination or by requesting a medical or religious accommodation.

Staff are also required to follow CLS COVID-19 protocols while engaging in in-person work in our offices and in the community.

Responsibilities

Fundraising and Development (40%)

• Develop and oversee annual fundraising plan that includes direct giving and individual fundraising, grants, corporate giving, charitable trusts and estate gifts, and other resources
• Lead the current $10 million capital campaign to successful completion in 2028, working with campaign leadership, funders, board members, staff, and other stakeholders to build CLS’s work to fight the legacies of enslavement
• Align events, communications, appeals, and giving with CLS mission, using a community-centric and storytelling model
• Lead staff and board engagement in fundraising, including understanding the funding landscape of legal aid and how CLS’s initiatives fit within it
• Develop reports and other meaningful ways to utilize CLS’s customer relationships management (CRM) database to track development progress
• Support the Resources & Engagement Manager in identifying and cultivating new grant opportunities; oversee grant writing, research, and reporting
• Manage major donor and funder portfolio, delegating where appropriate

Communications (40%)

• Collaborate across CLS teams (litigation, legislative, community engagement, program support, and organizational management) on internal and external messaging and communication, ensuring that communications work together to forward the CLS mission
• Create annual communications plan, and support Communications Manager in its execution
• Develop internal communications practices and initiatives that foster collaboration and transparency
• Lead media strategy and engagement around key advocacy issues including talking points, narrative development, and briefing documents
• Direct the development and distribution of electronic and print communications, including content across website, social media, email, direct mail, promotions, and public education initiatives
• Direct the upcoming transition to a new CLS website (projected for 2025)

Management (15%)

• Lead the development and communications team, including supervision of the Resource & Engagement Manager, Communications Manager, and DECO Coordinator, and occasional interns
• Support professional development of staff in the DECO department
• Manage team members’ capacity and coordinate their participation in working groups, specific advocacy, task forces, and other organizational initiatives
• Identify departmental goals, priorities, and long-term strategy, and develop meaningful accountability structures for development and communications work
• Provide thought partnership on communications and fundraising across the organization
• Serve as a member of the Organizational Management Team, developing policies and implementing strategy at the organizational level
• Create and manage DECO department budget and provide regular revenue updates

Board of Directors (5%)

• Build relationships with Board of Directors to further Board members’ understanding of community-centric fundraising and CLS’ fundraising and communications goals
• Develop Board of Directors fundraising and communications plans, considering the function and capacity of the Board over time
• Staff and lead the Board DECO Committee of 3-4 board members
• Lead the board DECO Committee in its work to support CLS’s development and communications efforts, including quarterly meetings and other projects

This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee, and others may be assigned.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have all or most of the experience below or a combination of comparable experience where they have demonstrated similar skills or responsibilities.

• Five or more years’ experience in fundraising / development, or a combination of education and experience which demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of this position.
• Five or more years’ experience in external communications and / or community engagement
• Demonstrated knowledge of funding landscape and community-centered fundraising, and demonstrated results in accomplishing short- and long-term fundraising goals
• Experience in developing and implementing internal and external communications strategies
• Strong written, oral, public, and interpersonal communications skills
• Strong relationship builder with the ability to build consensus and strengthen collaboration among diverse groups
• Experience working with people from a variety of racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds
• Experience supervising other staff or long-term interns (greater than 3 months)
• Ability to integrate organizational values and priorities into communications and fundraising appeals

Preferred, but not required

• Experience in both fundraising and communications, including communications related to advocacy work
• Experience with capital campaigns or other major fundraising initiatives
• Experience managing projects and leading cross-functional initiatives
• Experience working directly with board members to increase board engagement in communications and / or development
• Demonstrated track record of successful action toward racial justice
• Experience with legal aid, civil rights, or the criminal legal system, professionally or personally
• Fluency speaking and writing Spanish

CLS brings its core values of community, race equity, and justice into all aspects of its work, and we seek an individual for this role who aligns with these values and is interested in the continued pursuit of community-centric fundraising and communications practices.

Compensation and Benefits

CLS is updating its salary scales. The annual salary range for the DECO Director will likely fall between $125,000 for a candidate with 10 years of experience, and $135,000 for a candidate with 20 years of experience.

Columbia Legal Services is committed to providing an equitable work environment, including a commitment to pay equity. Mid-year adjustments may be applied, based on years of experience, once salary schedules are finalized.

An additional COLA increase of around 2% may be applied annually, in addition to a step-level increase for each additional year of service, based on CLS's overall budget.

This full-time, exempt position is a confidential role and is not eligible for representation by Washington Legal Workers, our in-house labor union.

CLS has a 35-hour workweek, though temporary deviations from the normal work schedule occur from time to time. We also offer a comprehensive compensation package including the following :

• 14 paid holidays annually
• Winter Break office closure between Christmas and New Year’s
• 12 sick days annually
• 15-21 paid vacation days annually (based on years of experience)
• 3-5 personal days annually (based on years of experience)
• Early office closure the first Friday of the month
• Paid parental and family medical leave benefits
• Paid sabbatical every 7 years
• Student Loan Repayment Assistance Program (for employees with less than 10 years’ experience)

Additionally, we pay 100% of employee premiums for excellent health, vision, and dental benefits plus 50% of the maximum out-of-pocket deductible and offer heavily subsidized family premiums.

We also offer a 403(b) retirement benefit with employer contribution and a match, disability and life insurance, a subsidized transit pass, and an employee wellness program.

To Apply

Please submit an application with a cover letter and resume in PDF format through our application portal in BambooHR. We accept and review applications on a rolling basis, with priority given to applications received before August 9, 2024.

We will remove the position from our website once it is filled.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for the application process, please email the Human Resources Department at [email protected].

We are committed to an environment of mutual respect, collaboration, and equal opportunity for all employees, and strongly encourage applications from people of color, immigrants, people who have been affected by mass incarceration, and other underrepresented and historically marginalized groups.

We believe in building and sustaining an organization that is reflective of the communities we serve, and is diverse in work background, experience, education, race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, national origin, or sensory, mental and physical abilities.

We believe that the resulting diversity is both a source of program strength and a matter of fundamental human fairness.